Hi! I’m Calley, and I’m married to awesome Jess, a budding OBGYN, historical fiction bookworm, previously-vegan-recently-pescetarian foodie, botanicals enthusiast, pilates doer, Enneagram 4, heart-and-soul lover of the world. I have set my sights on practicing medicine in unreached areas of the world since high school, and my goal of being an OBGYN took off even earlier, at the ripe age of four! It’s been a long but relatively straight shot from then to now as I finish my residency training in Michigan. After that, I hope to practice overseas. I have a vision that the medicine I’ll serve isn’t just about sickness but an institution of wellness that promotes well-being. “Well-being” means that the soul is free to pour out into the world its visions and desires to impact the world. IE “help others do what is in their heart to do for the world,” as my mentor would say. Ideally, this would happen alongside local partners already serving their communities, and I could come alongside them and add my hands to the mix. Along the way, I met Jess, who, while he eats everything, shares my heart, especially for medicine and the world. He is more than the best friend, husband, and companion I could have hoped to share this adventure with!
Hey! I’m Jess, and I like a lot of things: camping, music, disc golf, household projects, playing with our doggo, Sirius Black, hot tubs, being married to my awesome Doctor Wife, listening to audiobooks, traveling, eating… I met Jesus in my Senior Year of high school, which began a lifelong pursuit of His presence. Not long after, I discovered my heart for world missions, for seeing healing and restoration for all people, in the physical and the spiritual. Then, I met the most amazing woman in the world (Calley Bear Blue, you da best!), married her, and transitioned to further our training in the States. During this process, I have been so blessed with the opportunity to try my hand at many things. Namely, ministry internships, painting houses, Emergency Medical Services as a paramedic, and, most recently, clinical administration. Though my day-to-day life has looked different over the years, my spirit's constant, foundational yearning has been my call to world missions and all things Him. My greatest desire is to live a life steadily in the Presence of the Lord. He is my greatest passion. I am confident in our call to the nations through the avenue of medicine, and I trust the Lord will use us as His hands and feet to bring healing and restoration in Jesus’ name!
Calley is quickly approaching the beginning of her final year of OBGYN residency, which signals for us the beginning of a Season of Lasts, as this will likely be our last year planned in the States for some time. We are changing gears for such, and have updates to share, but first! A quick recap of our time in Thailand:
Thailand
Calley flew out ahead of Jess to start the conference set up. As the Academic Assistant to the Dean of Surgery, she had to arrive a couple days ahead of the attendees to help get the place organized, and learn the lay of the land. Luckily she is used to 24 hour shifts and meals entirely composed of tuna packets and granola bars… Upon arrival, she was happy to meet the Thai humidity and heat, just like (Alabama) home! The conference began on Monday with pre-conference courses, like Advanced Cardiac Life Support and Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics.
Although she was there to assist with the technology and speaker materials, she had a great time learning along with the attendees. The full conference started on Wednesday and, although her days were full with assistant duties, Calley had full advantage
of the networking offered. She met people from all of the world, many of whom were able to speak to our goals of moving overseas to work in healthcare after residency.
Every meal time was an opportunity to meet someone new, hear their stories and engage with their insight. Not unexpectedly, we found there are a multitude of opportunities for Calley to work as an OBGYN and Jess to work in Biomed Tech, Administration and Paramedic roles.
Connections:
One, seemingly instant, yet deep connection was made with an organization in Africa. The leaders even orchestrated a team meeting via zoom for the folks in Africa to meet with us while still at the conference! We are really excited about this group and are making preparations to visit in January 2026 as an exploring trip. We’ve chatted several more times via zoom and are open to where this connection may lead. Simultaneously we had a lot of wise insight to the Samaritan’s Purse Post Residency Program, to which our application is officially submitted. We expect to have more steps in
June 2025 after our interview with Samaritan’s Purse.
Exploring:
Jess joined Calley on the second weekend and after very little time to acclimate to the 12-hour time difference, they were off to see a little bit of Thailand before the second half of the conference began again Monday. They were able to visit an Elephant sanctuary, and the famous Chiang Mai night market. Monday morning came early, but Jess jumped right in and attended a number of trauma and triage focused classes, while making numerous connections. Calley continued to oversee the surgery track. Both of us were quite pleased at the quality of the lectures. The physicians and practitioners there said this is some of their best continuing medical education all year!
Home again:
Back home, after recovering from jet leg, we continue to process our experience in Thailand. We are really excited to take the next practical steps to life after residency. However there is certainly lots of life here for us now! If you would like to join our partner list, which means we make sure you hear our big updates, then would you share your info with us?
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